It took an hour to get out of Bogotá, and then another hour to get to Villeta, but the trickiest part was finding the house itself with minimal directions, no address, and rutted dirt roads. We got turned around a couple times, but eventually, with the help of a local boy who biked ahead to show us the way, we found the right gate and drove into our retreat. Within about ten minutes Jeff and the girls were in the suits and in the pool.
The house's setup was pretty cool. It was basically a long open room with three seating areas and a dining room table. At either end were two bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, so each family took a side. There was also a small open air kitchen, and a housekeeper to help with cooking and cleaning. The kids spent most of the morning in the pool, while the adults played with them a bit and sat and read their books on the sofas with a good view of the pool the rest of the time.
There was quite a bit of land, so after a few hours of pool time, the girls got dressed and went exploring, led by the intrepid Vivi. There was a grass tennis court as well as eight holes of some pretty rough golfing.
It wasn't ideal for sports enthusiasts, but it provided a lovely backdrop for the pool, and the girls had fun exploring. Eventually, it got dark, and the girls played with toys in the living area.
The housekeeper's family lived on the property as well and had quite a few animals including several dogs, chickens, and at least one evil rooster that started his alarm calls at 3am. We were not pleased about that, but managed to shut it out and go back to sleep. When we eventually got up, the chickens were roaming around taking care of the early morning bugs.
It got into the 60s overnight, and it was still a bit chilly when we got up in the morning. We tried to slow the kids down with some breakfast, but they weren't interested in delaying their pool time.
There were two mango trees on the property, and the housekeeper picked a couple and sliced them up for us to enjoy. That got Elena out of the pool ;-)
She has turned into such a confident swimmer. She was swimming all over the pool, and we are so proud of her.
Viv's swimming is also impressive. She's working on her kick turns, and so she was swimming laps back and forth. She was also wonderful with the younger girls who hung on her every word.
To thank her for being such a great big sister, I let her pick an afternoon activity. She found a big chess set at the end of the living area, and so she and I set up a game of chess.
We had a fun game, but she really wanted to win, so I let her play both sides at the end. Meanwhile, Elena and her little friends were doing arts and crafts. Elena didn't complete a big project, but she made lots of little things to use for a puppet show.
The next morning, Elena took one more swing in the hammock and said goodbye to one of the dogs on the property. There were at least three that wandered in and out while we were there.
We said a final goodbye to the pool, and then got in the car.
It took less than two hours to get home, which was nice. It was Sunday in the country though, so the cyclists took over the entire right lane of the "highway". That was part of why we left early, and it was worth it. We were glad to be home, but we really enjoyed our break from the city.
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